5 years out: Analysis of my first 5K

At the end of this month it will have been 5 years since I ran my first 5K.  It was in Delaware - an easy route in the misty rain.  Cool temps.  I remember making it to the half way check point no problem and then almost dying on the trip back.  I ran it with my good friend Kellie.  We motivated each other - she's a great runner.  She never goes too fast or too slow.  She always maintained a great pace.  It was fun running with her. And she was patient with me…..
We finished the race that day in about 33 minutes.  So around a 11 minute mile pace.  We trained starting in January.  It was touch at the beginning, but we finished the race and I was able to put that notch on my belt.

Fast forward to today.  I'm 5 years older.  I have 2 more kids.  I have less time.  I am out of shape.

There is no denying these statements.  They are what they are. And they seem to be bigger speed bumps in the process to returning to an "in-shape" self that I had 5 years ago.

My workout routine is spotty at best.  In 30 minutes I can cover about 2.25 miles now.  A little less if I'm pushing a baby in the stroller.  I'm not disappointed in that at all.  I'm not even that sad about my weight.  I'm frustrated by the lack of muscle tone.  And the only way to fix this is to be more consistent.  

I cannot for the life of me figure out how to manage consistency with my schedule.  The ever fluctuating, different everyday/every week, schedule that involves shuffling kids to school, me to work, home for naps, cooking dinner and so much more.  Life with one child is SO much less complicated you don't realize it until you add a second, then a third to the mix.  Love them to death and wouldn't trade what I'm doing right now for the world, BUT this puzzle cannot be that difficult to figure out.

I've hit the pavement twice this week.  With activities on Tuesday/Wednesday night (that I need to interact with people) I try and avoid getting outside.  There's just not enough time.  So, my schedule must be Sun/M/Th/Fr.  This sounds doable.  But then Brandon will be gone for a week - this is where consistency gets frustrating. And laziness sets in.

So for the next 3 weeks I will try and make myself get out on Sun/M/Th/F.  We are counting down to our next cruise.  I need to put on a bathing suit.  It's do or die time.

Baking is therapy.

I hate to admit this, but I am slightly overwhelmed.  I know - the holidays are over.  What is there to be overwhelmed about?  Well, for our family, the first 3 months of this year are filled with activities. 

At the end of this month we are traveling to Florida to board a Disney cruise boat.  I am really looking forward to this trip!  It will be lots of fun and JJ and MJ are really going to have a great time.  But I'm overwhelmed by the thought of packing and traveling again in such a short amount of time.  And we're packing warm weather clothes, not what we have in our closets - so that gets sort of hairy.  Especially for MJ.  Last summer stuff doesn't fit.  And this coming summer stuff is going to be still way too big (she's in 24 months right now and all this summer stuff is 2T).  Ughhh....

My sister-in-law, Whitney and her husband, Billy are waiting the imminent birth of their first child, Mac (we'll just call her Mac because that's what MJ can say the best).  So when we return from the cruise, we will pack up and head to Texas a few weekends later to meet my first niece.  I am really excited for them and excited to get to hold a brand new baby.  But again, more packing and traveling - but this time for a short weekend (I'm not sure what's worse - a long week travel and pack or the quick turn around of a weekend).

Then in March the kids and I are planning to travel to Houston to go to the LS&R with my parents for spring break.  JJ is 5 and has never been.  I think he would get a real kick out of the whole rodeo scene.  And MJ will love saying "COW" and "MOO" over and over again.  Plus, we'll be over there right around her birthday, so what a better way to celebrate 2 years than a trip to remember.  Probably just a half a week there, but again, more travel and packing up kids.

On top of this, I'm back to working, the kids are back to school here, and the Christmas decorations are slowly and NOT steadily finding their way back into boxes.  I feel like the minute we get back into a routine we'll be traveling over the next few months.  Fun travel, but still exhausting.  I might age 2 years this year.

So, instead of doing anything relevant today, I decide to bake two loaves of cheese bread from scratch.  Why not, right?  Its better than facing reality.  My house is a disaster, I lack a grocery list, and laundry needs to get done, but at least we can eat some bread tonight.  Priorities, I know.  But my sanity is demanding that I pay attention to it. 

About to go punch down, separate, and roll the loaves.  Really - I can't think of anything that's more therapeutic than that.

You can tell its summer.

There are a few things that let you know its summer.  Here is my list of how I know.

1) Its hot. 
2) We sleep late.
3) We stay up late.
4) I slack on blogging.
5) I slack on cooking.
6) I slack on housework.

That's just a few.  Ready for JJ to get back to school so I can remedy #2-6.  Unfortunately, God is the only one that has control on #1.  I'll do my part to start shifting our universe back in line so that we can get more out of our days. 

Its been fun summer, but its time to go bye-bye.

Our vacation is winding down. Finally.

Well, I say finally like it's been bad. Because it's not been bad at all. We have seen both sides of the family, not rushed. I saw a good friend in College Station. I ate lots of good food. I found out my sister-in-law is expecting a baby and I will be an aunt for the first time (yea!!!). JJ went to horse camp, took swim lessons, AND played ALOT with cousins (think he probably had the best vacation out of all of us).

I did not sleep that well, but that's ok. It's hard to sleep well with MJ in the room with us. I did not enjoy taking the kids to the doctors three times, but we are all ok. So that I'm thankful for.

It's been a good trip. Texas is a wonderful place full of cool stuff. I'm proud to say I'm a Texan. And I always forget how much there is to offer here. I'm glad my family is here. I'm glad Brandon's family is here. I'm glad my kids will grow up knowing why Texas is so special.

Leaving Sunday will be bittersweet. Not sure when we'll return again. Living in Mississippi is closer than Delaware, but still feels so far. I'll be glad to get back to Mississippi and get back into a routine. Unfortunately, Brandon leaves Monday for New York for a week. And then has two subsequent week long trips in August as well. So maybe not a true routine, but close. It will be home. And home is wherever my stuff is (at least that's my motto).

So family trip Summer 2011 is winding down. I'm tired. I'm exhausted. But, it's been worth it.

Head bonks and chiggers - Oh My!

Just when you think things couldn't get worse, they always do.

After yesterday's trip to Urgent Care, I was pretty certain we had reached our max for bad things. But I was so wrong. MJ woke up at 115am upset. Gave her Tylenol and she was back out by 230am. Woke up at 4am to a wet bed. After changing her she fell asleep fast on me. Bad idea. We were sleeping in the bed and at about 6am, MJ falls out. Onto the concrete floor. No rugs, carpet, anything. Just concrete. Bad parenting moment.

I kept her up at that point to monitor her behavior, not knowing if her head hit or whatever. For all you concerned, I'm 99.9% sure she's ok. But we are exhausted.

Chiggers. A whole other story. The first night we are at my parents' new house we walked their property searching for fossils. That was Sunday. Last night I noticed all these infected welps on me. And then JJ. Daggum chiggers. They are the worst.

So please, say a prayer for me as I try to get us pointed in the right direction. And I am about 10 hrs behind on sleep at this point too. Please pray I have patience and calmness when dealing with my kids. I know I can do it, but a little help is always appreciated. :)

Sickness & Vacation

Vacation is suppose to be fun. And so far so good. Before we left MS last week MJ had a slight runny nose. Nothing to be alarmed with. We had her 15 month check up and had the dr. look at it. He prescribed her some steroids to knock it out.

Fast forward 8 days. We are still struggling with runny nose. But now nose is green, sticky, and thick. Yuck. MJ woke from her nap today not happy. This is not normal. She messed with her left ear. Not good.

It is the 4th of July. The birthday of America. But I took my baby girl to the dr.

Diagnosis: left ear infection caused from nasty nose. We are not going back to MS until the 17th. We need to get better. Meds have started and I hope we only go up from here.

On a side, depressing note, I'm pretty sure ear infections are contagious. My left ear hurts like the devil. Poor MJ. Poor me. Maybe back to the dr. tomorrow!

The moral of this story is you can't plan for everything. Life gives you a curve ball and you just have to swing until you knock it out. I hate not feeling well and I hate it when my kids don't feel well. But I have to learn that we grow together on each circumstance and that I will get some thing positive out of it. Eventually.

Tomorrow is JJ's big day. Day 1 of horse camp. I'm no sure how I'm going to convince him to not take his sleeping bag.

Blogging on Vacation

I thought about this today. Should I blog while on vacation? Or should I just wait and give a summary of what occurs when I get home.

Don't judge me, but I'm choosing to blog. (that's for you Deann!)

There won't be any fancy pictures, no home projects, and no recipe posts. But that's the point of vacation, right? Just deal :)

We made it to central Texas yesterday. Me and the kids. Just hung around and relaxed today. I had to catch up on some sleep because MJ had a rough night last night. Always seems to happen with traveling, but compounded from a snotty nose. Hoping for a better night tonight.

JJ is exhausted beyond belief. After day one. This leads to defiant, grumpy, strong-for-his age child. It's like dealing with a ticking time bomb. It's gonna go off, but when??? I'm nervous a bit knowing it will happen. We head to my parents' house tomorrow near San Antonio. JJ has horse camp on Tuesday. I hope he can keep it together. Wish I could toast to that one.

So off to bed. Getting up in the morning, packing and heading south. My parents are in their new house that was just completed 2 weeks ago. Excited to see it. Now to figure out where the Starbucks are along the way :)